Congress MLA takes Amarinder to task
Utterances on SYL canalChandigarh, July 24
The war or words between Punjab and Haryana leaders over the SYL canal took a new twist today with Mr Ajay Singh Yadav, Deputy Leader of the Congress in the Haryana Assembly, spewing venom against Punjab Chief Minister, Amarinder Singh.

Priests differ over clean chit to SandhuAmritsar, July 24
Despite Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti, Jathedar Akal Takht, having exonerated his former personal assistant and close relative, Mr Prithipal Singh Sandhu, from charges of receiving a bribe from Baba Dhanwant Singh, Chairman Noor Vishav Ruhani Charitable Trust, as alleged by the Shiromani Khalsa Panchayat, the Giani Bhagwan Singh head
granthi, Akal Takht, has said that the case was pending before the Sikh clergy.

Farmers sell cattle, jewellery to buy dieselBathinda, July 24Even as the state government has formed a three-member
committee to tackle the drought-like situation and the BKU has been
holding dharnas and rallies to resent government agencies, failure in
handling the situation, the farmers in the area have alleged that both
were wasting time and nobody was coming forward to help them.

Debt-ridden and drought-hit farmers in the region have started selling
their cattle and jewellery to meet agriculture expenses. The photo taken by Kulbir Beera on Wednesday at Bathinda of Harbans Singh of Killi village, who come to
the city for selling his buffalo.

Dheera, Sagar miss many namesPatiala, July 24Prime accused in the PPSC scam — Randhir Singh Dheera and Prem Sagar — seem to have suffered memory lapses while recording their statements before a local court yesterday, with Dheera forgetting to mention most of the names of candidates whose selections were done through him to the PCS (executive and judicial).

Probe Badal-Sidhu ‘nexus’: Ravi InderChandigarh, July 24Urging the Punjab Government to probe the “nexus” between former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and suspended PPSC Chairman Ravinder Pal Singh Sidhu, a former Punjab Speaker, Mr Ravi Inder Singh, said today that this aspect had not been touched by government investigating agencies so far.

PSERC in a fix about PSEB bailoutRopar, July 24
The Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) is in a fix to bail out the cash-starved PSEB due to the divergent stands taken by various lobbies. The proposals forwarded by the PSEB to the PSERC for revision of power tariff may therefore not be accepted in
toto.

Cut-throat tonsillitis surgery kills woman
Run-away doctors abandon bodyFatehgarh Sahib, July 24
The report of a post-mortem examination conducted on the body of Saroj Wadhwa, a woman who died in Civil Hospital here during a tonsillitis surgery, showed negligence on part of two doctors who had performed the surgery.

Ex-MD granted loans ‘bypassing rules’Chandigarh, July 24Mr Parmeshwer Singh, a former Managing Director of Punjab State Co-operative Bank, (PSEB), Chandigarh, arrested by the Vigilance Bureau yesterday, had allegedly caused a loss of more than Rs 53 crore to the state, says a press note.

‘Convert’ Morcha into Akali outfitChandigarh, July 24
Observing that the Congress Government in Punjab will not last forever, former Speaker and senior Akali leader Ravi Inder Singh said today that there was need to convert the Panthic Morcha into an Akali outfit as an alternative to the SAD.

DMC faculty wants hospital working resumedChandigharh, July 24The faculty of Dayanand Medical College (DMC) has expressed keenness that the hospital should start functioning normally at the earliest, suggesting that all cases against the administrators and employees should be withdrawn and a meaningful dialogue between the management and the union started to end the current crisis.

Ex-minister ‘threatens’ DFO, Forest staffSunam, July 24
Mr Ranjit Singh Balian, former Housing Minister Punjab, and his brother allegedly threatened Mr Dharminder Sharma District Forest Officer (DFO) Sangrur, and his staff when the DFO and his staff tried to take the possession of ‘forest inspection hut’ at Kute Khana, Sangrur occupied illegally by Mr Balian.

Phillaur lawyers up in arms against policeLudhiana, July 24
An emergency meeting of the general house of the Bar Association, Phillaur, was held there under the chairmanship of Mr Satya Nand Aggarwal. The meeting was called to discuss the situation developing due to a murderous attack on Mr Jatinder Kumar Aggarwal, a member of the Bar Association,
Phillaur.

Truckers oppose industrialists’ decisionDera Bassi, July 24
The stage is set for a confrontation in the coming days between members of the Dera Bassi Truck Union and local industrialists over the opening of an office of the Dera Bassi Truck-Tempoo Association here today.

Tohra let me down, says Bhai Ranjit SinghAmritsar, July 24
Even as Mr Parmjit Singh Sarna has been elected President of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) unopposed, Bhai Ranjit Singh, a former Jathedar of Akal Takht, has said his group (he has six members in the (DSGMC) will continue to oppose the “arbitrary” approach of Mr Sarna.

Councillors catch ‘EO’s fraud’Fatehgarh Sahib, July 24
More than 20 councillors of the Sirhind- Fatehgarh Sahib Municipal Council, in a letter to the Chief Minister and the Local Bodies Minister, have demanded action against the Executive Officer (EO) of the council for allegedly making false notings in the proceedings book.

FBI man questionsPatiala, July 24
Mr Ralph Paul Horten, legal Attache of the Embassy of the United States of America (USA), who is also connected with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), today questioned Abdul Latif, an accused in the hijacking of Indian Airlines aircraft IC-814 in the Central Jail here.

Problems galore in Ferozepore dist: MLAAbohar, July 24
Post offices in Ferozepore district have not been supplied revenue stamps for the past three months, while many sub-post offices were not even having postage stamps required in the day-to-day working. Commemorative stamps were never made available in the Malwa region.

On ‘padayatra’ for peace and harmonyPhillaur, July 24Killing of hundreds of innocent in “riots”, and suicides by several displaced persons later in Gujarat, and killings of several innocent by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir, inspired Lakshmi Narayan Bhartiya (22), undertake to padayatra from Madhya Pardesh to Kargil in Jammu and Kashmir to spread message of peace and national integration.

Survey on number of scavengersFatehgarh Sahib, July 24
A special survey will be conducted within three months to identify the number of the scavengers and their dependents, in the district, said Mr Ganga Ram Teja, Member of National Commission for Safai
Karamcharis, while presiding over a meeting to study the socio-economic, living, working and education conditions of the scavengers in the district here today.

Solar lanterns for state villages soonChandigarh, July 24
Every village in Punjab will have a proper streetlight network. A proposal prepared by the Rural Development Department in consultation with the state Planning Department has been cleared by Chief Minister, Amarinder Singh, according to informed official sources.

Special road tax opposedLudhiana, July 24
A delegation of the association of affiliated schools of Punjab under the presidentship of Mr Rajinder Sharma along with Mr Manjit Singh Malerkotla, spokesman of the Congress, Punjab, and Mr Sushil Malhotra, general secretary, Youth Congress, met Mr Tej Parkash, Transport Minister, and apprised him of the problems confronting the affiliated schools of Punjab.

SAD to revamp media networkJalandhar, July 24
The SAD has decided to revamp its media network by inducting the youth in to it.To achieve this objective, SAD chief Parkash Singh Badal camped here for two days and held talks with party workers and leaders of Jalandhar and Kapurthala, apart from appointing his loyalist and youth Akali leader.

Harike barrage water level upFerozepore, July 24
The water level at the Harike barrage improved considerably today due to rain in Ropar and Ludhiana districts in the past several days. However, it is still short of the requirement for irrigation purposes in Punjab and Rajasthan.

Declare all water accords null and
void, govt urgedLudhiana, July 24
Giving a new twist to the river waters issue, the International Human Rights Organisation
(IHRO) has urged the state government to table a motion in the Assembly to ‘‘declare all accords on the waters signed with neighbouring states null and void to safeguard the rights of the people of Punjab’’.

Kiran Dhawan denied bail second timeRopar, July 24Application for bail of Ms Kiran Dhawan, Deputy Director, Social Security, Women and Child Development, Punjab, was rejected today by the Sessions Judge, Mr Maghar Khan, here. Ms Dhawan is an alleged accused in the Junior Engineers’ recruitment scam in the Department of Rural Development and Panchayats, Punjab.

Foodgrain stocks’ verification orderedRopar, July 24The Punjab government has ordered physical, chemical and weight verification of foodgrain stocks in the state. All Deputy Commissioners have been made chairmen of the committees formed to verify stocks in their respective districts.

Punjab postings, transfersChandigarh, July 24
The following postings and transfers were ordered in Punjab today.
Mr Himmat Singh goes as Resident Commissioner, Punjab at New Delhi and will also coordinate the schemes of the Rural Development Department vice Mr A. Didar Singh.

Gang of car thieves bustedDhuri, July 24
The Amargarh police has arrested three persons and recovered three stolen cars from them.
Mr Gurbachan Singh, DSP, Dhuri, in a press note issued here yesterday, said the gang used to steal cars from Delhi and sell these in Punjab by preparing fake documents and registration numbers.

53 bonded child labourers rescuedAmritsar, July 24As many as 35 bonded child labourers, aged between nine and 15 years, working with different jewellers in Guru Bazar were rescued here last evening. Fifteen persons were arrested in this connection.

Contract killer, 7 accomplices heldHoshiarpur, July 24The district police has arrested a proclaimed offender and contract killer, Seetal Singh, resident of Daduwal village near Mahilpur along with his seven accomplice.Mr Rohit Chaudhry, DIG, Jalandhar police range, at a press conference here today stated that a police party arrested them after an exchange of fire on the Phagwara road.

Woman rescued from kidnappers’ clutchesMoga, July 24
The police yesterday evening recovered a newly married woman Surjit Kaur, a resident of Nurpur Hakiman village in Moga district after 72 hours of her abduction.
The SSP, Mr Major Singh, said here today that Surjit Kaur was married only three days ago with Jaswant Singh of a nearby village.

Teachers to be appointed on
contractPatiala, July 24
Punjab Education Minister Khushal Behl said today that teachers would be appointed on a consolidated basis whenever there was a shortage of staff in the State.
Addressing a ‘’sarv sikhya abhiyan’’ function at the anaj mandi here, the minister said there were reports that certain schools in the rural areas were suffering on account of lack of teachers.

Varsity
dept without teachersPatiala, July 24With its classes slated to resume
in a week’s time, the Department of Defence and Strategic Studies of
Punjabi University here is conspicuous by the absence of teaching
staff.

Varsity students block trafficAmritsar, July 24
Students of Guru Nanak Dev University today blocked traffic on the Amritsar-Wagah road for more than three hours in protest against the “high-handed” manner of security men.